The Tom Smarte Guide to the Newsboy Cap

The newsboy cap, also known as the baker boy hat, 8 piece, baggy cap and apple cap, was coined after the newspaper boy sellers in the late 19th and 20th century.

It is similar in style to many flat caps for men, but is usually rounder, has a fuller crown, normally made with 8 panels and with a button on the top. They were worn widely by working men such as dockers, shipbuilders and farmers, and not just by the boys selling newspapers.

Similar to most tweed flat caps, but with more material used in its construction, the newsboy cap was a step change development in the art of hat making.

The newsboy cap is enjoying quite a revival lately due to the prominence of the hat style in the cult classic BBC drama ‘Peaky Blinders’.

Who the hat suits

The newsboy hatis a little less versatile than the flat cap, but should suit most men with round, square or oval faces, as the width of the cap would add the required symmetry.

How to wear it

The newsboy should be worn in the same way as a flat cap and placed back to front. As with the flat cap, a newsboy cap looks much better with the peak curved – all Tom Smarte newsboys are made pre-curved. The newsboy hat is equally adept at completing both smart and casual looks.

Famous newsboy cap wearers include David Beckham, Idris Elba and Brad Pitt.